Halperin comment reveals the insular "it's really all about US" attitude of journalists and pundits

[Empowerer]

The notion that a journalist/pundit who is on television ostensibly to analyze political events would think it appropriate to say something "off-the-record" while on the air is bizarre at best. But it does demonstrate that many of these people couldn't care less about their audience or whether they are actually providing them any information or knowledge that would be useful to them.

Instead, it's really all about what THEY think, not what the audience might need or want to know. They sit around these tables and talk and talk and talk to each other as if the camera is a fourth wall, completely oblivious to whether they are actually providing anything of value to viewers. Halperin got caught red-handed in this narcissistic exercise that has gotten far too out of hand in recent years.

[RandomThoughts]

1. There was a guy in the Hanoi Hilton.

A prison in North Vietnam during that war.

He built houses in his mind, one nail, one piece of wood at a time. Designed and built entire houses while in that place.

I think that might be a relevant thing to ponder, or consider, while the TV is on.

Then again, I liked the movie Rambo, so :shrug:

And I am due beer and travel money, and many experiences.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. MSM has gone from reporting to the populace the inner workings of "democracy" to

being a player and making policy.

[Empowerer]

3. Exactly!

But if you're going to have side conversations among yourselves that the rest of us aren't supposed to hear, shouldn't you just go to a bar or a coffeeshop or something, rather than get paid to sit on television while we watch you talking in code?

[monmouth]

4. Great post and perfectly stated....n/t

[patrice]

5. This really should be regarded as an addiction. Getting "high" on yourself is NOT an

exaggeration. It is a biological fact.

[northoftheborder]

6. I missed what Halperin said. link?

[Supersedeas]

7. Opinions require no homework, no familiarization with actual policy

[AtomicKitten]

8. From back in the day.

The link is dead but this is an excerpt from a piece I wrote several years ago. I haven't thought of it in ages but it's a surprising window into the minds of some journalists.

CNN's Reliable Sources August 10, 2002 was a genuine eye-opener. Guest Josh Marshall, webmaster of Talking Points, stated, "... I think deep down most reporters just have contempt for Al Gore. I don't even think it's dislike. It's more like disdain and contempt." None of the talking heads disagreed. Guest Dana Milbank, White House reporter for the Washington Post offered, "You know what it is? I think that Gore is sanctimonious and that's sort of the worst thing in the eyes of the press. And he has been disliked all along and it was because he gives a sense that he is better than us ... as reporters."

I guess it's still all about them. :eyes:

[stevenleser]

14. Let me say this and hopefully be vague but not vague...

While I typically like Democratic candidates and pundits and don't like Republican candidates, there are politicians and pundits who I like personally, but would never vote for them because their positions on the issues are all wrong (i.e. the Republican and conservative politicians and pundits who I've met who were nice). And there are politicians who I don't like personally, but for whom I would vote and vigorously campaign because, while they were either complete jerks when I met them in person, or aloof to the point of being arctic, I like their positions on the issues.

During my lifetime (I'm 42) some of the Democratic candidates for President that I have met have been in the latter category above.

[Honeycombe8]

9. Oh, come on. They have a lot of air time to fill. They ARE human and have opinions.

It's only natural that they'll slip and say something bizarre occasionally. Joe said the F word once, and he's pretty television-experienced. Halperin is not.

Halperin is usu. a moderate, temperate in his words and vocalizing about the Dems. He's not a hate-filled wingnut or anything. He's still a Republican, so.... But he has said a few good things about Obama in the times I've seen him on TV.

Imagine if you were on TV for hours each week....every week, speaking about politics, with that camera off to the side. I doubt that any one of us wouldn't slip up and say something objectionable or disrespectful at some point.

Joe has Republicans on his show who are seriously "dicks." But Halperin isn't one of 'em. He clearly was feeling the Republican pain of being bitch-slapped by Obama in that speech. Which is a GOOD thing. }(

[Empowerer]

10. This wasn't a "slip" - this was an intentional comment, made with considerable forethought

The only "slip" was Halperin's assumption that, once he said it, he would be protected by the 7-second delay.

This was very different from Scarborough's inadvertent cursing, which was clearly an unintended slip of the tongue. Halperin's comment was an entirely different thing. It was fully intentional, said with a self-satisfied smirk. It's difficult to believe that he regrets saying it, since he said it with such careful determination. I suspect that his only regret is that he fell for the "we'll use the delay" goading from his hosts and, thereby, allowed the entire viewing audience to see how petty and obnoxious he can be.

[Honeycombe8]

15. I don't see much difference. "Dick" is just slang terminology he wouldn't have used...

if he'd thought it would be aired. The mark of inexperience, or lax because of being on air for so many hours a week, talking and talking and talking.

I might say "he sucks" or "he's a jerk" in my one on one talk w/someone, but that's not the phraseology I'd use on national TV.

He's suspended. He gave a real apology (unlike others we've heard in the past). I don't think it was that big a deal, frankly. He just should've used another word. "Dick" being disrespectful.

Just because he's a Republican, I don't think he should be skewered. If a Dem had said that about Palin or Bachman or Romney of Lieberman, I don't think all the posters here would be complaining about how awful that was.

[lunatica]

11. Those gaffes happen much more than we think.

This time the guy hired to push the button to beep the cusswords missed doing it. I hear Joe Scarborough wasn't happy about that. It must be because that stuff goes on quite a lot.

[Empowerer]

12. But this wasn't a "gaffe" - he meant to say it

[ruggerson]

13. Halperin is a Drudge enabler of the first order

n/t